§ Mr. Garrettasked the Prime Minister how much was spent and how many people were employed on export promotion services by each of (a) the British Overseas Trade Board, (b) commercial attaches in United Kingdom embassies abroad, (c) the Export Credits Guarantee Department and (d) the Overseas Development Administration, in 1983–84 and 1984–85; what are the projected figures for 1985–86; how the relative priority accorded to these areas of expenditure is determined; and if she will make a statement.
§ The Prime MinisterExport promotion services, under the guidance of the British Overseas Trade Board, are provided by the Department of Trade and Industry. The information requested is set out in the following table. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not incur direct expenditure on export promotion services. The table shows the overseas commercial staff involved in the export promotion programme.
The Export Credits Guarantee Department does not employ staff on export promotion services as such. However the entire Department has the statutory function of encouraging trade with other countries, which it does by giving guarantees of payment to exporters and by supporting the banks in making available finance for exports. The Overseas Development Administration has no export promotion services. However ODA staff work with the Department of Trade and Industry and the diplomatic service overseas posts in assisting United Kingdom firms to derive the maximum benefit from commercial opportunites under the aid programme. No separate expenditure or staff are allocated for this purpose. There is close consultation between my right hon. Friends and their respective Departments (the DTI and FCO) on the level and distribution of diplomatic service commercial staff overseas in relation to DTI manpower and direct expenditure on export promotion.
385W
Net expenditure and staff for export promotion services 1983–84 1984–85 *1985–86 DTI Vote (BOTB) net expenditure £M †22.2 27.5 ‡27.9 DTI Export promotion manpower 913 818 ‖748 FCO overseas commercial staff manpower 1,180 1,159 ¶1,132 * Figures for 1983–84 are actuals, figures for 1984–85 are actuals for manpower and budget figures for expenditure, and figures for 1985–86 are budget figures in each case. † Excludes publicity and publications expenditure which until 1984–85 appeared on the Central Office of Information vote. The figure is therefore not directly comparable with later years. ‡ Includes adjustment for receipts taken in from another heading; the figure comparable to 1984–85 is £27.7M. ‖ The figures are based on an estimate of the time spent by some staff on other work such as trade policy and trade relations. They include regional office staff. Because of the organisational changes in the period there are variations which mean that the figures are not completely comparable. ¶ These figures include all FCO commercial staff overseas including locally engaged staff and all support staff. It is not possible to establish the significant proportion of the time of these staff spent on matters other than export promotion, such as inward investment, trade relations, and economic matters.